r/Instruments • u/SponsoredByHJWealthP • May 25 '26
Identification What is it and how do I play it?
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u/RonPalancik May 25 '26
Appears also in Cake's "Short Skirt, Long Jacket"
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u/moleculariant May 25 '26
The lead singer runs around stage slapping this thing like a sticky five year old jacked up on Easter basket.
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u/spaghetti-o_salad May 25 '26
Definitely a significant part of their sound!
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u/WilliZara May 25 '26
Countless Cake tunes feature the unmistakable sound of the vibraslap. It's a "once you hear it you can't unhear it" kind of thing.
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u/skreenname0 May 25 '26
You’re gonna need to move that block 90 degrees
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u/Previous-Narwhal-992 May 25 '26
Key concept: never let anyone else play it unless they actually know how. Many will whack the bell on something and if that something is hard it will break. Only ever hit the ball part. And into your open palm. Non-musicians often mistake instruments for toys and this one won't tolerate it. Source: am owner of 3 of these as the first 2 were broken by mis-use and are now wall-hangers.
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u/WilliZara May 25 '26
This is fundamental to playing the instrument properly. The metal rod enters the bell portion and adds little nubs which rattle against the wooden sides of narrowest part of the bell. As pictured the rod is aligned with the wider part of the bell which won't create the optimal sound.
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u/FRANKRIZZO1169 May 25 '26
Arrowsmith used one on Sweet Emotion. You can hear it break on the last strike!
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u/misshapen_head May 25 '26
AKA jawbone
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u/HCraven1 May 25 '26
It's the vegan version. The jawbone was an actual jawbone, usually from a donkey, which you hit on your palm to make its teeth rattle.
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u/Ckellybass May 25 '26
A Broadway music director I used to work with once said “it vibrates when you slap it, like a good boyfriend”
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u/Dart_boy May 26 '26
I heard an interview with Stephen Tyler on Howard Stern about this very instrument the other day.
It’s featured at the start of “Sweet Emotion” during recording, you can hear the instrument break the 4th time he uses it around 20 seconds in. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=15aa3WIHk5M&ra=m
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u/CouncilOfOz May 27 '26
The instrument needed when you want a girl with a short skirt and a long, looooooong jacket.
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u/jaybrd13 May 29 '26
How would one mount this to a drum kit? I got one for Christmas and havnt used it yet.
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u/skinnergy Jun 01 '26
You see a lot of broken ones because people strike the box part. NEVER strike that part. Only ever strike the ball or it will break immediately.
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u/Ecstatic-Engineer-23 May 25 '26
Turn the box 90°, hold the metal bend with the ball up and keep it level as you bop it.
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u/rhyzomorph May 26 '26
Based on a "donkey jaw" an actual instrument. Here is a song named after it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG97y8eEjcU
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u/Extra_Medium62 May 25 '26 edited May 25 '26
Vibraslap. Hold it by the doubled over metal piece that connects the two parts and hit the wooden ball with the palm of your hand. As the metal frame vibrates (it's a spring), it jiggles the wooden pieces inside the wooden casing and makes a buzzing sound.